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Flu by the numbers

• 35 people hospitalized with the flu at Poudre Valley Hospital, Medical Center of the Rockies and McKee Medical Center • 131 patients diagnosed with the flu at University of Colorado Health’s Family Medicine walk-in clinic in Fort Collins and its urgent care centers in Northern Colorado • 88.5 percent of patients diagnosed at the clinic in Fort Collins and UC Health urgent care centers who did not have a flu shot • 448 H1N1 flu hospitalizations reported in Colorado this year, up from 373 in the prior year Source: Larimer County Department of Health and Environment and University of Colorado Health System

Are you feeling feverish, achy, congested, bone-tired and generally like you’ve been run over by a truck?

Chances are you have the flu. If you even have the energy to raise your head off your pillow to read this, know you’re not the only one suffering.

The number of people hospitalized with the H1N1 strain of influenza in Colorado jumped to 448 at the end of December, compared to 373 the previous year. In Larimer County, 11 have been hospitalized at Poudre Valley Hospital, 16 at Medical Center of the Rockies and eight at McKee Medical Center, both in Loveland.

That’s the most cases the 6-year-old Medical Center of the Rockies has seen at this point in the flu season, said spokeswoman Kelly Tracer. Last season, only seven patients had been hospitalized at MCR by now.

Emergency rooms at both PVH and MCR are also seeing more flu sufferers than normal, Tracer said, but haven’t tracked their ranks. Flu cases reported at University of Colorado Health’s Family Medicine Center walk-in clinic in Fort Collins and University of Colorado Health’s urgent care centers in Northern Colorado total 131.

Of those clinic patients who tested positive for flu, 88.5 percent had not gotten a flu shot, Tracer said. And unlike past years, the flu is hitting younger people harder than older residents.

“Last year it was very much elderly people’s flu that caused a lot of hospitalizations,” said Dr. Adrienne LeBailly, director of the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment. “This year it is definitely hitting young people worse than usual.”

Last year, those between the ages of 25 and 64 accounted for 30 percent of all cases statewide; now those people make up 57 percent of all cases.

With hospitalizations on the rise between Christmas and the start of 2014, the health department alerted physicians to prepare for a wave of younger patients. While the number of cases is on the rise, “it’s hard to know whether the whole season is just starting earlier,” LeBailly said.

Colorado and local health officials say it’s not too late to get a flu shot. While it’s best to get a shot as soon as vaccines are available — typically September — flu season usually peaks in February and can run into May.

The flu vaccination can provide protection beginning about two weeks after it’s given, LeBailly said.

“The surge in hospitalizations due to flu is concerning,” Dr. Lisa Miller, state epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said in a news release. “ ... We encourage anyone who hasn’t been immunized this year to get a flu vaccination now.”

Most pharmacies, physicians’ offices and the Larimer County health department offer flu shots for between $20 and $31.

State health officials also encourage you to avoid the flu by washing your hands frequently; coughing and sneezing into the crook of your arm, rather than uncovered or in your hand; avoiding people with respiratory illness; and staying home from work or school when sick, returning only after a fever has subsided for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medication.